Rudder



Oct. 7 1924.

J. J. TONER RUDDER Filed Dec. 11,

INVENTOR Q/TJTONER I l l I 1 l I 1 a I l I A TTORNE Y8 Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

PATENT QFFICEG JOHN J'. TONER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RUDDER.

Application filed December 11, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. TONER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Man- 5 hattan in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Rudder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in rudders for ships, and has particular reference to that type wherein the force or impact of the water passing astern from the propeller and into contact with the rudder is utilized to maneuver the vessel in various directions.

The invention is particularly designed as an improvement over my former Patent No. 1,478,928, issued December 25, 1923, and has for one of its objects to provide an improved rudder, the construction of which is such that the speed of a vessel and its direction of travel may be readily and quickly controlled thereby.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detailed de scription, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the stern of a vessel showing the rudder applied thereto in vertical longitudinal sec tion; 35 Figure 2 is a section substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing. the numeral 41, indicates a vessel having the usual skeg 5 through which extends the propeller shaft 6 carrying the propeller 7,

The rudder, which includes the essential features of the inventiom comprises a base 8 and a body portion 9 ofinverted U-shaped formation open at bothends and arranged rearwardlv of and in direct alignment with the propeller 7 so that the wake of the propeller will pass through the body portion when the rudder is in the full length position shown in Figure 1. The forward end of the rudder is mounted between portions Serial No. 679,979.

of the skeg for pivotal movement about a vertical axis with respect to said skeg so 55 as to permit of the vessel being steered either to port or starboard. This mounting of the rudder is accomplished by means of a collar 10 secured to the top of the body 9 and ailixed in any desired manner to the lower end of a hollow steering post 11 which e2 tends vertically through the stern of the vessel 4 to a point above the deck line thereof. This rudder post 11 may be rotated to operate the body 9 by a tiller or wheel (not shown) connected to said post through any suitable mechanism, such as a pulley 12. Slidable vertically in the rudder post 11 is an inner sleeve member 13, the lower end of which normally extends to a point adjacent the base 8 of the body of the rudder and receives therein a vertically arranged guide rod 14 the lower end of which is extended through a portion of the skeg 5 and secured in position by a nut 15. From this construction it will be apparent that the rudder post 11 sleeve 13 and rod 14 combine to form a pivotal. mounting for the rudder and in addition the rod 14 forms a guide for the sleeve 13 and the same is moved verti cally for a purpose which will presently appear. Pivoted at 16 in the sides of the body portion adjacent the lower edges thereof and the base 8 is the forward end of a wake resisting member 17 in the form of a gate of such a length that the free end thereof, which is curved and beveled to conform to the contour of the upper portion of the body 9. will engage said upper portion when the gate is adjusted to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1, thus entirely shutting off the passage of water through the body of the rudder. To operate the member 17 the same has secured thereto and extending medially and longitudinallv thereof a laterallv projecting plate 18, This plate is provided adjacent its free longitudinal edge with a guide slot 19 arranged diagonally with respect to the plane of the gate 17 and designed to receive a pin 20 arranged in the bifurcated end of a gate operating frame 22 carried by the lower extremity of the inner sleeve 13. Thus when the sleeve 13 is moved upwardly in a manner to be presently described the arm. 22 will impart a similar movement to the gate 17 about its pivot 16 toward the dotted line position, the pin 20, during this movement, riding in the slot 1.9 toward the rear extremity of said slot.

The means for adjusting the inner sleeve vertically to effect the operation of the gate 17 is shown as comprising a collar 23 supported upon the rudder post adjacent its upper end and above the deck line of the vessel and carrying a pinion 24: the teeth of which extend through a longitudinal slot formed in the rudder post and engaging a rack 25 formed on the inner sleeve 13. An operating arm 26 may be connected to the shaft 2'? carrying the pinion 24 and operated through any suitable means (not shown) to rotate the pinion in order to impart vertical movement to the sleeve 13.

In practice should it be desired toretardthe speed of the vessel 4 without reducing the speed of rotation of the propeller 7, the gate 17 may be swung from the full line position shown in Figure 1 toward the dotted line position to partially close the passage of the water through the body of the rudder so that the gate will resist the force of the water passing through said body. It will be obvious that through such an-adjustment of the gate 17 the vessel may be brought toan absolute stop with the propeller turning at full speed and also that by completely closing the passage through the body of the rudder, by adjusting the gate to the dotted line position shown, the direction of'movement of the vessel may be reversed'without 7 reversing the movement of the propeller.

When the gate is in the dotted line position shown and the vessel is moving astern the entire force of the water is against the gate 17 and the water entering the rear end of the body of the rudder, due to the rearward movement o'fthe vessel, is permitted to pass out of said body through the opening 28 formed in the base plate 8. It has been found in practice that when employing a rudder of the nature herein described the maneuvering of a 'vessel' is greatly tacilitated, since it. has been found possibleto bring the vessel to a complete stop practically within its own length and rapidly turn the same about in a reverse direction by a movement of the rudder either to port or starboard.

What is claimed is: I

1. In a rudder for vessels, a base having an opening therein an open ended body, mounted on said base a steering. post connected tosaid body, a sleeve movable longitu'dinally of said steering post and extending into said body, a guide rod carried by the vessel and projecting into said sleeve, and

a wake resisting member in said body controlledby the movement of said sleeve to regulate the size ofthe passage throughsaid body and to entirely closesaidpassage, said member, when movedto'the last named position, being capable of causing a reversal of the movement of the vessel, and the opening in said base permitting water to flow therethrough when said vessel is being reversed.

2. In a rudder for vessels, a base having an opening therein an open ended. body, mounted on said base a steering post connected to said body, a sleeve movable longitudinally of said steering post and extending into said body, a guide rod carried by the vessel and projecting into said sleeve, a gate pivoted in said body and movable to various positions to regulate the size of the passage through said body, and to entirely close said passage, said gate, when moved to the last-named position, being capable of causing a reversal of the movement of the vessel, and the opening in saidjbase permitting water to flow therethrough when sai vessel is being reversed and connections between said sleeve and gate for operating the latter when said sleeve is moved longitudinally of said rudder post.

' 3. In a rudder for vessels, a base having an opening therein an open ended body, mounted on said base a steering post connected to said body, a sleeve movable longitudinally of said steering post and extending into said body, a guide rod carried by the vessel and projecting into said'sleeve, a gate pivoted in said body and movableto various positions to regulate the size of the passage through said body, and to entirely close said passage, said gate, when moved to the lastnamed position, being capable of causing a reversal'of the movement of the vessel, and the opening in said base permitting water to flow therethrough when said vessel is being reversed a plate: carried bysaidgate and having a slot therein, and an opera-ting arm carried by said sleeve and having a pin eng-ageable in saidslot to effect a swinging of said gate about its pivot when said sleeve is moved longitudinally of said rudder post.

4. In a rudder for vessels, an open ended body, a steering post connected to said body and having a longitudinal slot therein, a sleeve. movable longitudinally in said steering post and having a rack, a pinion engageable with said rack to operate said sleeve, a guide rod carried by said vesseland p'rojecting-into said sleeve and forming a pivot about which said body is-movable when the steering post is rotated, agate pivoted in said body: for regulating the size ofthe passage therethrough, and connections between said gate. and sleeve for operating the former when said sleeve is moved longitudinally. in said rudder post. p

5. In a rudder for vessels, a base having an opening therein, an open ended body mounted on said base, a steering post connested to-said-body, a sleeve movable longiuclin l y o s ering res a ll id r ZJI carried by the vessel and arranged in telescoping relation With said sleeve, and a Wake resisting member pivotally mounted in said body forwardly of the opening in said base and controlled by the movement of said sleeve to regulate the size of the passage through said body and to entirely close said passage, said member, when moved to the last-named position, being capable of causing a reversal of the movement of the vessel, and the opening in said base permitting the Water to flow therethrough rearwardly of said member When the vessel is being reversed.

JOHN J. TONER. 

